I am watching the Senior Bowl practices....I know, lame, but I have noticed that Jake Locker looks awful. He has overthrown almost every receiver and is being out played by Rick Stanzi of Iowa. I know that Shanahan was enthralled with him last year, but he looks lost out there and it is just practice. I honestly hope we don't draft a QB in the 1st round. I say we take Dalton from TCU in the late rounds. Go with Grossman and draft OL and some weapons on O and depth on D.

Spud - I'm working out of the house today and watching this too. Kapernick has intrigued me a bit but not sure if he fit's the mold of a Shanny QB just b/c he is willing to run the ball from time to time. But Locker has looked a bit out of it. Not going to knock the kid b/c it's the first day and he's been the one guy who's been willing to throw it dep it seems.

QB reviewAll the North QBs were a little bit fired up and you could see the adrenaline in their throws. If you talked to all three, they would say they had more juice than normal and, as in every all-star game every year, there are timing issues in the first practice between figuring out routes with WRs and how coaches want routes run. Overall, they were erratic. Expect them to be more consistent with their accuracy as each day goes on.

Watch the hitchNevada's Colin Kaepernick had fewer glaring misses than the other QBs today. He showed adequate arm strength and really good touch on throws that required touch. He just throws a nice catchable ball. But the biggest thing watching him live is he's trying (unsuccessfully) to hide the fact he has a long delivery. It's as if he has a hitch in his throwing motion. It takes too long and it's something that defenders can really pick up on. It's tough to just break a habit and that's something he's going to have to really fight. We knew he had it, but seeing it live it's a little more concerning.

Eyes on a HawkeyeIowa's Ricky Stanzi did a pretty good job today. He's clearly the second-best QB for the North team. Not a great athlete, but he had good footwork and very good touch and timing as a passer for the most part. He threw the best vertical sideline route of day during 7-on-7s. His arm strength didn't jump out either way. He doesn't have rifle but he passed the test from that standpoint today. When he missed, he missed high and it tended to be on throws between the numbers. He was missing high on curls and in routes and that's something to keep an eye on this week.

Checking in on LockerWashington's Jake Locker's day was a little bit like a microcosm of his career. He made some unbelievable throws, like one fade route in the back of the end zone. Perfect timing, perfect touch and dropped it right in. He nailed a couple skinny posts where he led the receiver and put it in the perfect spot for yards after catch. And maybe his best throw of the day was a sideline comeback route where he just drilled it with perfect timing. But he can't bottle it up and do it consistently. He had a handful throws that he made one time, but didn't do it the next time. It's that inconsistency that is frustrating. If it was just today and you saw something else on film, you could attribute the inconsistency to just being Day 1. But if this pattern continues, this isn't going be the week he needs it to be. Still, he did not have a bad day. In fact, he had the best day of the QBs here and there is no doubt who is the most naturally talented QB here.

The more I look at this, the more I pray we don't pick cam newton. The guy will be awesome most likely if given time to learn the system, but quite frankly, we don't have that luxury for him to sit more than a year. I think he may be a 2-3 year project.

Go for Locker and if you miss on him, go for Dalton in a later round.

Miss you 21

12/17/09 - Ding Dong the Witch is Dead...Which Old Witch? The Wicked Witch.

I like Jordan a lot. He played 3-4 DE at Cal and has the size to play that position in the NFL (6'4 287). He is versatile and could play DE in either a 3-4 or 4-3, and could probably play some DT too in pass rushing situations. If there isn't a qb that Shanahan likes at #10 I think that Jordan should be given a serious look. He is absolutely tearing it up at the Senior Bowl and his stock is going to go way up imo.

Locker still the class of Senior Bowl QBsTodd McShayScouts Inc.MOBILE, Ala. -- Deciding to return to school and passing on several million dollars might wind up being the best thing that ever happened to Jake Locker's career.

Had the Washington quarterback been a top-five pick, as projected last year, and thrust into a situation like Sam Bradford in St. Louis, there's a real good chance Locker would have crashed and burned. He's just not ready and is still a work in progress. In fact, there's no guarantee it all ever comes together, and we know from getting 13 more game tapes and a week of watching him here in practice that it hasn't all come together yet. He shows all the right things but just at different times. He's not consistent but he flashes enough to make you think his best football could still be in front of him.

We've known all along that Locker has the size (6-3, 230 pounds), arm strength and athletic ability, but the positive that came out of this week is by playing with better players around him, he is better than what you see on film when he was playing behind the line and using only the weapons he had at Washington. I think it also has been helpful for Locker to go through the process. He's showing NFL personnel and coaches that he's committed to get better and has good football character. He understands he's flawed and has areas he needs to improve on.

Locker knows he's thinking about his footwork too much and he's robotic with his mechanics. It's not second nature and he's not comfortable like most quarterbacks who are able to just go out and play the game. The bottom line is if you're inconsistent with footwork, you're going to be inconsistent with your accuracy. QB coaches can tell where the ball is going and how well it's thrown by watching a quarterback from the waist down. Watching Locker, his feet are good on one play and then they're not on the next. That's making Locker think too much and focus on his feet too much instead of just being natural. Think of it like a golf swing. If you step up to the tee with 10 things running through your head -- I have to keep my head down, my elbow straight, my back firm, my feet lined up properly, etc. -- your swing is choppy and inconsistent. Tiger Woods, who has 3 million reps swinging, swings smoothly because it's second nature to him.

A lot of people around Locker might have hit the panic button, especially during the season when he and the Huskies were struggling, but he hasn't. He is still learning, still growing and what is natural to others isn't natural to Locker yet. He knows he needs reps and he knows he needs to improve.

The best thing that could happen to Locker is for him to wind up in an Aaron Rodgers situation. Rodgers got the last laugh, going to the Super Bowl now after dropping to the 24th pick in the 2005 NFL draft, but that might not have been the case had he been picked No. 1 by San Francisco and forced into the fire. The variable is that there is still no guarantee Locker gets in that kind of situation even if he drops into the middle of the first round instead of being a top-five pick. At this point, I'd be comfortable drafting Locker in Round 1 only if I had a veteran starting quarterback whom I could rely on for at least one more year, an owner I know would not push for Locker to play until he was ready and a quarterback coach who knows what's he doing.

Here's a quick look at the other QBs at the Senior Bowl:

Nevada's Colin KaepernickHis delivery is flawed but I don't know if it's necessarily a deal breaker or that he has to completely retool it like a Tim Tebow process. He's working on his delivery and though he's improved every day, he's still a long-term developmental project and I wouldn't expect him to be drafted in the first two rounds. The positive thing about him is during the 11-on-11 and team drills, he made his best plays and best throws and we were impressed with his accurate throws in tight windows.

Iowa's Ricky StanziSomeone will draft Stanzi in the middle rounds with the idea that he will develop into a solid backup. If forced into the game, he'll be prepared, competitive and can make accurate throws underneath and most of the intermediate throws. The problem we saw this week, and it matched what we saw on film, is his arm strength is limited. While arm strength can be the most overrated part of evaluating a QB, he has to have a certain base level. Watching Stanzi in windy conditions when he was forced to make some throws, he couldn't get the ball out easily and it started to affect his accuracy. It's something he'll work to overcome, but teams shouldn't draft him thinking they will develop him into a future starter.

TCU's Andy DaltonHe exceeded expectations but Dalton didn't blow anyone out of the water this week. He has a good sense of timing and is accurate. He doesn't have elite arm strength but understands his tools and what he can and can't do. He's very efficient. He won't impress anyone with his size or arm strength but there's no denying his competitiveness. He makes his best plays in game situations.

FSU's Christian PonderHe showed good poise and went through his progressions, but he played it safe this week. He showed good touch and accuracy underneath, but he never aired it out. Every throw he made over 15 yards was a touch throw. He claims he's 100 percent, but that elbow injury he suffered during the season snowballed so maybe he was afraid to let it rip, or maybe he was worried he'd be injured again and have to start over. Don't think we got a real good read on Ponder either way. But the upside is he got face time with coaches, scouts and the Buffalo Bills staff, but teams will learn a lot more about him when they bring him in to work out over the next two months than they did this week.

Alabama's Greg McElroyMcElroy showed very good footwork and might be the most mechanically sound quarterback here. He doesn't need a lot of coaching and doesn't need a lot of work in terms of understanding progressions and the passing game. He can be accurate with the throws he can make, but arm strength is an even bigger problem for McElroy than it is for Stanzi. As a result, there's a chance a team drafts McElroy in the sixth or seventh round, but there's also a chance he goes undrafted.

Locker is the elite of this Senior Bowl class even though he's still a project. McElroy is at the bottom of this group. In the middle there are the other four quarterbacks each competing to prove he is the best of the bunch. All of them bring different qualities to the table and different evaluators have different impressions based on what they look for in a QB and their scheme. Even in our group, there's some debate about the order of the middle four. I say it's Dalton, Stanzi, Kaepernick and Ponder. Steve Muench goes with Stanzi, Dalton, Ponder and Kaepernick, while Kevin Weidl goes with Dalton, Stanzi, Ponder and Kaepernick. So, obviously, there's still plenty of evaluating to be done on these QBs.

I am not trying to build up a case for Locker at #10, but I found this article interesting as to what Mike might be thinking.

Elway compares himself to Locker:

“Jake Locker, if you talk about height, weight and speed, he’s probably the closest to me,” Elway said. “We’re the same height, he’s faster, probably, and heavier than I was, but when you think about play style, Jake Locker is probably the closest even though (Blaine Gabbert, Cam Newton and Colin Kaepernick) are all very mobile themselves, too.”

But what is interesting to note here is that the Redskins and Mike Shanahan have been linked to Locker. And our Mike Mayock said on Wednesday that he wouldn’t be shocked to see Locker end up in Washington.

“Locker likes getting out on the edge, and he’s mostly accurate off play-action rolling out right or left,” Mayock said. “That’s what Mike Shanahan’s scheme is. It’s a lot of play-action. It’s a quarterback making a decision on half the field. … If he has a chance to play early and play effectively, I think that’s the kind of system he’s set up for.”

Locker still the class of Senior Bowl QBsTodd McShayScouts Inc.MOBILE, Ala. -- Deciding to return to school and passing on several million dollars might wind up being the best thing that ever happened to Jake Locker's career.

Had the Washington quarterback been a top-five pick, as projected last year, and thrust into a situation like Sam Bradford in St. Louis, there's a real good chance Locker would have crashed and burned. He's just not ready and is still a work in progress. In fact, there's no guarantee it all ever comes together, and we know from getting 13 more game tapes and a week of watching him here in practice that it hasn't all come together yet. He shows all the right things but just at different times. He's not consistent but he flashes enough to make you think his best football could still be in front of him.

We've known all along that Locker has the size (6-3, 230 pounds), arm strength and athletic ability, but the positive that came out of this week is by playing with better players around him, he is better than what you see on film when he was playing behind the line and using only the weapons he had at Washington. I think it also has been helpful for Locker to go through the process. He's showing NFL personnel and coaches that he's committed to get better and has good football character. He understands he's flawed and has areas he needs to improve on.

Locker knows he's thinking about his footwork too much and he's robotic with his mechanics. It's not second nature and he's not comfortable like most quarterbacks who are able to just go out and play the game. The bottom line is if you're inconsistent with footwork, you're going to be inconsistent with your accuracy. QB coaches can tell where the ball is going and how well it's thrown by watching a quarterback from the waist down. Watching Locker, his feet are good on one play and then they're not on the next. That's making Locker think too much and focus on his feet too much instead of just being natural. Think of it like a golf swing. If you step up to the tee with 10 things running through your head -- I have to keep my head down, my elbow straight, my back firm, my feet lined up properly, etc. -- your swing is choppy and inconsistent. Tiger Woods, who has 3 million reps swinging, swings smoothly because it's second nature to him.

A lot of people around Locker might have hit the panic button, especially during the season when he and the Huskies were struggling, but he hasn't. He is still learning, still growing and what is natural to others isn't natural to Locker yet. He knows he needs reps and he knows he needs to improve.

The best thing that could happen to Locker is for him to wind up in an Aaron Rodgers situation. Rodgers got the last laugh, going to the Super Bowl now after dropping to the 24th pick in the 2005 NFL draft, but that might not have been the case had he been picked No. 1 by San Francisco and forced into the fire. The variable is that there is still no guarantee Locker gets in that kind of situation even if he drops into the middle of the first round instead of being a top-five pick. At this point, I'd be comfortable drafting Locker in Round 1 only if I had a veteran starting quarterback whom I could rely on for at least one more year, an owner I know would not push for Locker to play until he was ready and a quarterback coach who knows what's he doing.

Here's a quick look at the other QBs at the Senior Bowl:

Nevada's Colin KaepernickHis delivery is flawed but I don't know if it's necessarily a deal breaker or that he has to completely retool it like a Tim Tebow process. He's working on his delivery and though he's improved every day, he's still a long-term developmental project and I wouldn't expect him to be drafted in the first two rounds. The positive thing about him is during the 11-on-11 and team drills, he made his best plays and best throws and we were impressed with his accurate throws in tight windows.

Iowa's Ricky StanziSomeone will draft Stanzi in the middle rounds with the idea that he will develop into a solid backup. If forced into the game, he'll be prepared, competitive and can make accurate throws underneath and most of the intermediate throws. The problem we saw this week, and it matched what we saw on film, is his arm strength is limited. While arm strength can be the most overrated part of evaluating a QB, he has to have a certain base level. Watching Stanzi in windy conditions when he was forced to make some throws, he couldn't get the ball out easily and it started to affect his accuracy. It's something he'll work to overcome, but teams shouldn't draft him thinking they will develop him into a future starter.

TCU's Andy DaltonHe exceeded expectations but Dalton didn't blow anyone out of the water this week. He has a good sense of timing and is accurate. He doesn't have elite arm strength but understands his tools and what he can and can't do. He's very efficient. He won't impress anyone with his size or arm strength but there's no denying his competitiveness. He makes his best plays in game situations.

FSU's Christian PonderHe showed good poise and went through his progressions, but he played it safe this week. He showed good touch and accuracy underneath, but he never aired it out. Every throw he made over 15 yards was a touch throw. He claims he's 100 percent, but that elbow injury he suffered during the season snowballed so maybe he was afraid to let it rip, or maybe he was worried he'd be injured again and have to start over. Don't think we got a real good read on Ponder either way. But the upside is he got face time with coaches, scouts and the Buffalo Bills staff, but teams will learn a lot more about him when they bring him in to work out over the next two months than they did this week.

Alabama's Greg McElroyMcElroy showed very good footwork and might be the most mechanically sound quarterback here. He doesn't need a lot of coaching and doesn't need a lot of work in terms of understanding progressions and the passing game. He can be accurate with the throws he can make, but arm strength is an even bigger problem for McElroy than it is for Stanzi. As a result, there's a chance a team drafts McElroy in the sixth or seventh round, but there's also a chance he goes undrafted.

Locker is the elite of this Senior Bowl class even though he's still a project. McElroy is at the bottom of this group. In the middle there are the other four quarterbacks each competing to prove he is the best of the bunch. All of them bring different qualities to the table and different evaluators have different impressions based on what they look for in a QB and their scheme. Even in our group, there's some debate about the order of the middle four. I say it's Dalton, Stanzi, Kaepernick and Ponder. Steve Muench goes with Stanzi, Dalton, Ponder and Kaepernick, while Kevin Weidl goes with Dalton, Stanzi, Ponder and Kaepernick. So, obviously, there's still plenty of evaluating to be done on these QBs.

Locker knows he's thinking about his footwork too much and he's robotic with his mechanics. It's not second nature and he's not comfortable like most quarterbacks who are able to just go out and play the game.